Galleries / Museums, Canberra

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National Gallery of Australia displays not only artworks that have defined the Australian nation and also admire a selection of iconic international works from various art period. They also exhibit various Australian prints and India art among others.

I really like the stunning artworks and sculptures around the building.

Open daily 10am-5pm.

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One of Australia's most brilliant and diverse museums is the National Museum of Australia in Canberra within the heart of the Australian Capital Territory. It was established in 1980 by the National Museum of Australia Act to preserve and interpret Australian history, cultures, people, and events that made Australia what it is today. It was homeless until March 11, 2001 when it opened its doors in the national capital. Diverse collections and exhibits ranging from 50,000 Before Present upwards to the current day with focus on the Aborigine, the original inhabitants, their beliefs, culture, and myths. It covers European settlement of these shores from 1788 to modern day and focuses on the material culture that Australia creates both past and present. They possess the largest collection of Aboriginal bark paintings and stone tools found in Australia. Exhibits rotate around like all major museums and during my visit had a feature called "Not Just Ned" covering the Irish immigration to Australia. In addition to a massive artifact collection, they have a wide range of books, catalogues, and journals in their archives. Highly innovative and on track with technology, the Museum is notable for its advancement and design. They have an incredible outreach program with regional communities as well as a inclusion with the Aborigines. The Museum was designed by architect and design director Howard Raggatt themed with knotted ropes symbolizing the weaving together of Australian stories and tales. The entire building and grounds tells the story of creation, the Dreaming, and immigration of these shores. The building is at the center of the knot with trailing ropes or strips extending from the building, forming large loops that are walkways extending past the neighbouring AIATSIS building ending in a large curl aligning as the "Uluru Axis" representing the Australian natural landmark. This design incorporates Bed Maddock's "Philosophy Tape", Jackson Pollock's "Blue Poles", the Boolean String, A knot, Ariadne's thread, and the Aboriginal Dreamtime story of he Rainbow Serpent creating the land. Within the Museum complex is an exact copy of the lightning flash zigzag that Libeskind created for the Berlin Museum by breaking a five pointed star of David. This initially brought allegations of plagiarism. Its exterior is covered with anodised aluminum panels that include worlds written in braille. These words include "mate", "She'll be right", "sorry", and "forgive us our genocide". In 2006 the Museum was damaged by a hail storm that caused the ceiling to collapse, expose power cables, and flood the floor.

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If you've got this far then you'll already be aware that Canberra is 'artificial' in that it's been planned from scratch and is quite a recent edition to the Australian landscape.

This small museum is actually quite a pleasant surprise. I was expecting quite a dry display, but the history of ACT and the Australian National Capital is told here in an interesting way, with plenty of colourful visuals, not too much text and various interactive opportunities. From pre-European settlement through to present day developments. Not a huge exhibition, can kill maybe an hour max depending on your boredom threshold, it's just about the right size. Take a look at the interactive map inside and the original plan for Canberra designed by Burley Griffin which is laid into the ground outside the main entrance.

The gift shop could do with some imagination, much of it is of the 'cuddly koalas' and Aussie flags variety - that is, very little that is specific to the city or this museum. The coffee shop is a bit sterile but with nice enough coffee and a lovely view of the park.

There's a short video presentation which is worthwhile. Overall this is a bit of a 'isn't our new Capital city great and isn't it great to be in Australia' tour, but taken with a pinch of salt it's worthwhile and informative. You might even be able to work out where things are in Canberra that little bit easier after a visit!

The Canberra Museum and Art Gallery (CMAG) is a bit of an unknown gem in Canberra. Right in the centre of the city, this gallery/museum is tucked inside a revamped office building, near the Canberra Theatre.

As well as permanent exhibitions on the settlement of Canberra, there is a well designed gallery which hosts exhibitions of often interesting and unusual art and sculpture. The space is pleasant, and has a little atrium cafe that is a lovely spot for a short coffee.

They also have a small side room where they hold miniature exhibitions of objects owned by locals. My family once displayed our easter egg collection there. Each year the family members sit down and paint a blown egg, and we have been doing it for about 25 years so now have a large and fascinating collection that reflects our family's history.

Other mini-exhibitions have included teapots, snow domes and egg cups. Its a fun way to engage local Canberrans in the gallery and the collections can be truly bizarre! There are usually activities connected with these exhibitions. In our case, the family got together and gave egg painting sessions, and in the case of the teapot exhibition, ran tea ceremonies and story telling for the children.

Entry to the museum is free, but very occasionally there might be a cost attached to a particular activity or exhibit.

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This is the perfect place to begin your visit to Canberra. Located in Commonwealth Park opposite the James Cook fountain the Centre provides a very good visual and historic overview of the development of the Australian Capital. It also has an attractive cafe that (weather permitting) is a nice place to grab a lunch or snack.

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Visiting the National museum of Australia, I did not expect to see lots of the things that were on display.
One that was very interesting, was of a rare specimen of a Tasmanian Tiger.

The thylacine is an extinct carnivorous marsupial, most commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger.
There is no information about how or where this specimen was collected with the last well-documented capture of a wild thylacine in 1930. This animal was probably collected around that time.

The thylacine once roamed well beyond Tasmania with fossilised remains being found across the Australian mainland.
They were believed to kill livestock and were often shot and trapped, and even when it was known to be close to extinction, little was done to save them. Luckily, times have changed, and we now protect our endangered species.

The thylacine was declared a protected species in July 1936, shortly before the last animal died in Tasmania's Beaumaris Zoo on 7 September 1936

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST PRIZED SPECIMENS IN THE MUSEUM.

To see it, visit between 9 - 5pm
ADMISSION IS FREE

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TELLING GREAT STORIES ABOUT AUSTRALIA & AUSTRALIAN’S, .....
this Multi – Award winning Museum uses new ideas and interactive displays to present the historic objects from the National Historical collection, allowing you to explore the stories of the Nation.

This very modern building is a “very different type of museum.”

On entry, our 1st stop was called “CIRCA”

This is a revolving theatre which you enter, take a seat, and take a ride through Australia’s past, seeing objects, images, landscapes, in four different theatres, very interesting and amazing, what a start to the Museum!
NO PHOTOS ALLOWED IN THE THEATRE

Photos are allowed in the rest of the Museum.

From here, we just wandered around, looking at displays combined with interesting reading.

There was a section on Icons of Australia, so if you want to find out about Vegemite, the Hills Hoist, the Holden car and more, pay a visit here.
Here on display, were the farm implements used by our ancestors, also a display on the different kinds of Wool.
It’s a chance to find out about and to handle the Aboriginal objects they use for collecting food & water, and to learn about their customs.

Have a laugh at our unique slang, if from overseas, this is a good place to learn what we are talking about!

There is so much to see here, we spent 2 hours and could have spent a lot longer, what an interesting place this was.

As it was lunch time, we had lunch in the Café “Cuiseum” on the ground floor which is open from 9 -5pm.

The Museum shop is located on the ground floor and has huge selection of Books, and an excellent array of Australian Gifts.

A guide told me that the Museum continually changes its displays, so next time when we go back, it will be different, as they are just about to change it.
She said they have that much either given or loaned to them, that the storage area of the Museum is full. The curator of the Museum decides what will be exhibited for public viewing.

I feel this is a MUST VISIT when in Canberra.

If you wish to do a Guided tour, then there is a fee for this.

Admission was FREE!

OPEN 9-5 pm daily

FREE Parking onsite was quite full, its quite a popular museum

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To me, when I 1st saw this building, I couldn't help thinking how ugly it was, and this was a view that didn't change about the outside of this building. Once inside, I thought it quite nice, big, light and airy.

When arriving, probably the 1st thing I noticed was the giant loop, this is a part of what is know as the Uluru line.

This bright orange line begins at the Museum as the entrance canopy and sheltered walkway. It then swoops up into the loop, a great curve 30 metres high, before continuing as a wide red footpath past the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. The Uluru line ends physically in a curled concrete ramp that continues north-west to Uluru (Ayers Rock).

This building could not be called DULL! it is vibrantly coloured in crimson, orange, bronze, gold, black and brushed silver.

The Museum Hall, which is the way you enter, is like a huge rope knot seen from the inside.
Lots of light and open space with curving walls, windows and ceilings. It is a metaphor for the strands that tie Australians together as a nation, the weaving together of the lives and stories of Australia and Australians.

Following the line of the rope through the Hall leads to the permanent exhibition spaces located on three levels.

The Garden of Australian Dreams is a symbolic landscape - large sculptural forms within a body of water, a little grass and a few trees. Encircled by the Museum, it is somewhere to sit, think, enjoy!
The design is based on a slice of central Australia.

A concrete surface depicts a highly coloured, stylised 'map' of the area; take one step and you travel the equivalent of 100 kilometres across the real landmass of the country.

The words on the undulating surface of the map identify place and country - 'home' is repeated in 100 different languages. The lines that crisscross the map include surveyors' reference marks, road maps, the dingo fence, and Indigenous nation and language boundaries.

It really is quite interesting when you understand it!

OPEN 9- 5PM DAILY